A Welsh surgeon has shared what it's like to lose both of his legs. Dr Neil Hopper, who is originally from Aberystwyth but now lives in Truro in Cornwall with his family, has performed hundreds of amputations throughout his career, but never thought he would have to face the knife himself.
In April 2019, Neil lost both his legs after falling ill with sepsis. In a special S4C documentary, Drych: Camau Tua'r Sêr, the surgeon shares the physical and emotional challenges he faced following the amputations, as well as his dreams of becoming a para astronaut.
During the programme, Neil finds out that he has been chosen for the process of recruiting a para astronaut, in other words an astronaut with a disability, by the European Space Agency. In February 2021, a call came from the European Space Agency for people to fill the newly advertised astronaut position for the first time in over a decade, as part of their Parastronaut Feasibility Project.
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Having always had a great interest in things related to space, the role struck a chord with Neil and he decided to apply. In December 2021, he was told that he was selected for the recruitment process. "One of my earliest memories is back in Ysgol Gynradd Penrhyn-coch in Aberystwyth in 1981," he said during the programme. "Mr Evans, the headmaster, came in and called us all into the assembly hall to watch the first space shuttle going up in space. Since then, I’ve had a big interest in anything to do with space. I wanted to be an astronaut. I always had an interest in science and I think that interest has helped me to become a surgeon."
On speaking about the Parastronaut Feasibility Project, he said: "When I saw the European Space Agency advertisement recruiting for a para astronaut, which means an astronaut with a disability, I had to apply.
"The criteria was very specific: you had to have a doctorate either in engineering or medicine, you had to have a disability below the knee and you had to speak a second language - so hey, Welsh!
"At the beginning, my wife Rachel thought I was completely crazy. She was thinking it was just one of those crazy ideas. My children didn’t understand what I was planning on doing, and my son was a bit apprehensive."
Neil is a vascular surgeon who specialises in amputations. After a period of treatment following sepsis in 2019, he lost his toes and much of the skin on the underneath his feet, so amputation was decided upon.
"One of the many questions I get asked is, what does it feel like?" he said. "What are the sort of sensations that happen after amputation? And, it’s nice to talk to them and tell them overall that it does feel odd and a bit uncomfortable, but it’s not a painful operation, which is a shock to many people."
He added: "In April 2019, I went on a camping trip with my family. While I was there, my daughter and I became sick so we went home. Over the weekend after that trip, my daughter Evie got better but I was still ill. I went to bed on Monday and the next thing I knew I woke up in intensive care on Tuesday. I knew I had something severe going on because of where I was.
"I had a lot of pain in my feet. When I looked down, I could see that my toes were turning blue. That’s what I deal with everyday, so I had an idea that things were very serious. They transferred me to Derriford Hospital [Plymouth]. In Derriford, there is a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, so they could give me oxygen to try and save my feet."
Neil had 12 treatments before he became ill once again. He said: "This time, I went to theatre and I lost my toes on both my feet. As I looked down, all I saw was half my feet. During that treatment I lost a lot of skin at the bottom of my feet as well. So there was no hope that I would be able to walk again. So I made the decision to get amputations.
"Signing the consent forms – well, there aren’t words to describe how I felt. I remember imagining the operation – operations which I do all the time, and thinking that power tools were going to be used on me. That was really difficult to process.
“I was in hospital for about six or seven weeks. The physical changes in my body were fairly easy to understand, but what I didn't understand were the psychological changes and how hard it was just to fit back into family life."
But a turning point came when Neil received prosthetic legs. "I was starting to think I'd never be able to go back to work, I'd never be able to play football with Harry, walk the dog on the beach - that's the kind of mindset I had," he explained. "But once I got legs, things started to change overnight, the future didn’t look so bleak."
At the time, he was told that he needed to reconsider his career, as it would not be "possible or practical" for him to return to the theatre. But he was determined to do otherwise. "I wanted to prove that they were completely wrong," he said. "Throughout my career I'd always tried to imagine what it was like to have an amputation, so I didn't expect to get the answer. I think it has made me a better doctor."
During the programme, Neil found out that he had reached the last 27 out of 500 remaining candidates in another round of the recruitment process with ESA. He then had to undertake an array of examinations that tested his knowledge on mathematics and physics, as well as go on a trip to Hamburg in Germany.
Although not successful in his attempt to become a para astronaut, Neil said that he was happy with what he had achieved and had gone further than what he had expected. "My life has changed so much in the last year," he said. "And not in the way I expected. I have had a real chance of making a lifelong dream come true. Although it didn’t become a reality, it's worth believing in dreams."
Drych: Camau Tua'r Sêr is on S4C on Sunday, February 26 at 9pm. English subtitles are available. You can also watch it on demand on S4C Clic, BBC iPlayer and other platforms.
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